In the small Greek island of Paros, you still find reminders of one of his greatest poets. Archilochus, born around 680 BC, is known to us as one of the first poets to talk about his own experiences and emotions. I know him because he’s the author of one my favorite quotes which is as …
When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933, the United States (and the world) was going through one of the worst economic crises in history. The Great Depression, as we know it today, was in full swing. For some people, the depression had actually arrived years before FDR took office and they were eagerly waiting …
I was talking to a neighbor and her dog yesterday while holding a bag full of groceries full of tasty food like a BBQ chicken and rosemary ham. Her dog—which looks exactly like Scooby Doo—came over and instantly tried to take the ham out of my bag. As I tried to move the bag away, …
The primary argument I hear against increasing the speed of decision-making is one of quality. Companies, rightfully so, are concerned that if they rush through important decisions, they will get them wrong. Hiring the wrong person can be even more painful if you have to let go of that person. Settling on the wrong strategy …
In 1983, Howard Schultz made a fateful trip to Milan. He had recently joined Starbucks as the Director of Retail Operations and Marketing, a company who was primarily focused on selling whole beans to coffee shops. Schultz fell in love with Italian coffee bars—places where Italian communities would gather—and he urged the Starbucks company owners …
One of my favorite ideas of all time comes from the comic book world. It is called the multiverse. Basically, it means that there are parallel universes nearly identical to each other. So there’s multiple versions of Earth and the people in it. In one of those universes, perhaps I get to live as a …